ANKARA, June 5. /TASS/. Turkey’s interest in BRICS is only natural, as the organization continues to gain influence on the global stage, Russian Ambassador to Ankara Alexey Yerkhov has told TASS, commenting on recent statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan regarding the republic’s interest in BRICS.

"I think that Turkey’s interest in BRICS is quite logical. It is driven by the fact that our association is gaining more and more power on the international stage. Other countries are taking notice and are intrigued. We can explain this by the fact that members advocate for the formation of a new multipolar world order, which would take into account the sovereign interests of a maximum number of countries," the diplomat noted.

Regarding Turkey potentially joining the organization, Yerkhov said that "the decision on the membership of any state in BRICS can only be adopted at an organization summit." "As we know, the next meeting will be held on October 22-24 in Kazan," the envoy added.

On May 4, Fidan, while on a state visit to China, said that Turkey was interested in BRICS. The country believes it to be an important organization for cooperation, which has bright perspectives and suggests other countries an alternative world order.

In this regard, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Moscow "welcomes the increasing interest in BRICS from [its] neighbors, including such important partners as Turkey." According to him, the issue of this interest "will be on the agenda of the BRICS Summit, which will be held under Russia’s chairmanship."

The BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting will be held on June 10-11 in Nizhny Novgorod. Fidan has said that he plans to attend. Earlier, Russian Ambassador-at-large, Russia’s su-Sherpa in BRICS Pavel Knyazev announced that Russia expected around 20-25 countries, including all BRICS nations, to attend the meeting.